


Crash Landing

by skitzzo



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Bisexual Disaster Jack Kelly, Bisexual Jack Kelly, Love Confessions, Oblivious David Jacobs, jack tries hard to impress his crush and has a near death experience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29138745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skitzzo/pseuds/skitzzo
Summary: In which Jack Kelly goes to visit one of his favourite newsboys, but has a bit of a crash landing...
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	Crash Landing

**Author's Note:**

> hello :] i wrote this based on a headcanon my friend gave me, so thank you cat for inspiring me xo
> 
> in general, it's jack being a yearning idiot in denial. enjoy!

_Knock knock knock._

Three steady beats. Jack Kelly leaned against the black railing of the fire escape and hit his fist against the curtain covered window, a certain kind of swagger in his posture. He let his arm fall and dangle down the small gap between the window and the escape’s railing. Then, he waited. He stared at the Earthy brown curtains that obstructed any way of looking into the room behind it, held his chin high and kept his shoulders tight.  
It was dark out, and a cool mid-Summer breeze chilled the air. A glance at a clock embedded in a nearby bank’s red brick wall read 8:53, of which Jack had to squint his eyes to read. By this time, most every newsboy had finished selling their papers and had returned to heaven knows where to try and get at least an hour of sleep for the same routine tomorrow. Among those newsies included the very one who’s room he was standing outside of; Davey.

Jack often would come visit Davey, entering his house through the window or the front door—though the former more often than the latter. It took a while of Davey’s prodding for Jack to visit properly, saying his folks would love to have him, and, when was the last time you’ve eaten? Don’t lie to me. You’re coming over tonight for a hot meal whether you like it or not. Eventually, Jack was walking through the Jacobs’ front door around once every other week.

Although he continued to come to the window almost every night.

Jack grasped his hands together, and was shocked when he felt just how clammy they were. He pulled them apart and stared at them with a cocked brow, unsure of when or why they got so sweaty. With a quiet scoff, he rubbed his palms dry against his grey vest. There was no reason to be nervous, he thought. It was probably just the breeze. He let out a sigh that floated away on that breeze, and raised his hand to knock on the window again, thinking that no one must have heard him. But before he could, the window creaked open.

It cracked at first, like it hadn’t been opened for a while, but then it slid up with a noisy ease. Jack opened his mouth to crack a witty remark about leaving him waiting, but stopped when he saw the face on the inside of the window. Les.

“Hiya, Jack!” The young boy cheered with an innocent glee. Despite it not being who he hoped for, Jack couldn’t help but smile. 

“Hey, kid.”

“What’re you doing here? It’s late, you know. Almost bedtime.” Les asked as he pushed the curtains to each side, hooks screeching against the brass rod.

“Oh, uh—yeah, I was hoping to see your brother. Is he home?” Jack pressed his chin against the side of his hand and leaned forward.

“He is! He’s downstairs doing his chores. I finished mine first, so I got to come up and rest early.”

“Well look at you, being the chore champion over here!” Jack snickered. He reached an arm into the window and lightly punched Les’ shoulder, the boy laughing in response. “Do you mind getting your brother for me? I got something to tell him. Important stuff.”

That was a lie. Jack had no important stuff to tell him. In all honesty, he just wanted to see him—but Les didn’t need to know that. Thankfully he bought the lie and nodded. He shut the window halfway and left the room, bellowing a loud “DAVEY!” as he turned the corner.

A small laugh escaped Kelly as he watched him go. Les was adorable, and ever since they met they’ve been like brothers. If he wasn’t with Davey, he was with Les, selling papes or sitting on a bench watching the busy New York day go by. He wanted the kid to be happy, so he put an effort into making sure the times they spent together were all good ones. It was bothersome sometimes, but seeing him smile made it all worth it. Once, Davey even thanked him for giving his brother a good day. The memory made him grin.

As soon as Jack’s brain mentioned his name, he couldn’t stop thinking about him. Davey. He pressed his lips together into a thin line and let out a heavy breath through his nose, sinking into the railing. His forehead pressed against the back of his hand. Despite the crisp wind still delicately blowing, Jack felt the apples of his cheeks burn.

Whenever he thought about, saw, or talked to Davey lately, he felt confused. His mind would start racing with all sorts of thoughts, his mouth would go dry, and he wasn’t as sharp as he normally was. Ninety nine percent of the time, Jack could think of a sassy response to just about anything anybody said that would cause a ripple of laughter. But that one percent…

The other week while waiting for the headline, he saw Davey arrive with Les, and Davey had gotten a haircut. A very, very nice haircut. Jack didn’t realize he was staring, but Race asked if he was planning to go fly catching with the way his mouth was open. If he was in his right mind, Jack would’ve clapped back with something about how he’d snap him and his papes up if he didn't keep quiet. But at the time, all Jack could reply with was an absentminded murmur.

It was a serious hit to his reputation, and he still hadn’t recovered. The other newsboys wouldn’t give it up until he left to sell his newspapers; and even then, as he left, he heard exclamations of good luck on the fly catching!  
Jack grumbled at the memory, his shoulders dropping so they touched the railing as well. He just didn’t get it. Why was he feeling so strange around Davey? What was it about him?

Well, he was practically Jack’s opposite. Jack was bold, daring, and a punch-first-ask-questions-later kind of person. Meanwhile Davey was more relaxed, curious and on the side of maybe-we-shouldn’t-be-punching-anyone. When they first met, Jack didn’t see their partnership lasting longer than several days, maybe a week at best. But here they were, a strike, protest and social movement later. It made no sense that they were friends, not at all. But they just worked together.  
For some reason, Jack’s mind soured at the word ‘friends.’ He paused, biting the inside of his mouth. Unconsciously, his hold on the railing tightened. Suddenly the confusing feeling returned, swirling deep in his stomach. The feeling soon grew wings and fluttered up high in his chest.

He shook his head in an attempt to clear any radical thoughts. There’s no reason to feel like this. You’re friends.

Another voice from the back of his mind called out. _But don’t you want more?_  
_No, I don’t._  
_You do, you’re just denying it._  
_I’m not denying anything! Davey and I are just friends, there’s nothing more to it._  
_But don’t you want there to be?_  
It took a moment for his logic to respond— _No! I don’t!_  
_Even if I did, it’s not like he’d feel the same!_  
_How would you know if you don’t ask? Don’t you want to ask?_  
_I don’t know! Get out of my head!_

“Jack?”

Jack sprung up at the sound of his name. For a moment his gaze darted around, but he just as quickly recognized the voice and looked back towards the window to see Davey approaching the window. He immediately readopted the nonchalant swagger back into his posture and expression, his right hand pressed against the railing so he leaned and his left hand on his hip.

“Well well well, there he is!” Jack clicked his tongue playfully. He noted that Davey was still in his typical newsboy clothes, a dish towel thrown over his shoulder. “I was worried you’d disappeared on me.”

Davey let out a tsk, and opened the window fully. “Now where would I disappear to?” he leaned down to the windowsill and rested his cheek in a hand. “To whom or what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

Jack blinked. “...What?”

“Why are you here?” Davey restated bluntly.

“Well jeez, can’t I just visit ya’ to say hi?” Jack gave a lopsided grin and chuckle. The reply was silence, but he didn’t miss the way the side of his lip pulled up for a moment. As his chest pumped with laughter, Jack pulled himself over the rail, but instead of entering the window, he pushed back and sat on the edge. His legs dangled in the near three foot gap between the escape and the window.

Davey looked him up and down with a wary expression, “You shouldn’t sit there. You could fall.”

“Don’t worry Davey boy, I won’t fall. I have the balance of a cat.”

“If you say so? Be careful,” He didn’t seem convinced in the slightest, but knew arguing with Jack was like trying to get a brick wall to move, so he changed the subject. “How was your day, then? Sell a lot of papes?”

Jack nodded, “You know it. Ever since Pulitzer adjusted the prices and started buying back any papers we don’t sell, I’ve been a paper selling machine. Maybe it’s a fame thing, people wanting to buy Jack Kelly’s paper.” His tone grew suave and cocky, and Davey had to resist rolling his eyes.

“Or maybe they just want to buy a paper?”

“Eh, I think what I said is more believable.” Jack shrugged. He crossed his left leg, foot right above his knee. “What about you?”

“Same as you, actually. Lots of people are buying from me, we were able to go grocery shopping twice this week.”

“Oh look at you, big spender, huh!” Jack grinned. A light feeling shone in his chest when he saw Davey smile and titter lightly.

That was another thing, how whenever he saw him smile or heard him laugh, it felt like the sun was shining brighter than usual. The first time the feeling occured, he was shocked and tried to spend the rest of the day making funny remarks, trying to win a beam or a laugh.

The alluring head voice from earlier whispered it’s intoxicating words, _it’s because you like him._

_Shut up! Not when he’s right there!_  
_Go on, ask._  
_No!_  
_You know you want to._  
_I don’t! I-_

“Jack? You okay?” Davey reached out the window and tapped his knee lightly. Jack looked up from his lap and released a breath even he didn’t know he was holding. “Your cheeks are bright red, is it cold out there? You can come in, I—”

“No!” Jack responded just a bit too hastily. Shit, were his cheeks that noticeably red? A waterfall of curses flowed in his mind. When he noticed Davey looking at him with a shocked expression, he cleared his throat and simpered, “No, don’t worry about it. I’m fine, I love it out here! It’s New York City, baby.” Jack stuck out his arms freely and leaned back. He barely heard two words of Davey telling him to be careful before his balance slipped.

A disturbed yelp escaped Jack as his arms waved in fevrent circles, trying as hard as he could to not fall backwards. Honestly, he was more worried about looking like an idiot in front of Davey than getting hurt. Before he could process that thought fully, Davey reached out the window and grabbed Jack by the inner V of his vest and pulled him forward.

For a brief moment it worked. Alas, he went too forward—his thighs lost what little grip they had against the railing, and he slipped further.

And fell down the fire escape.

Davey’s home was on a third floor, so while it didn’t hurt like a fall from the fifth floor would, it still hurt like all hell as he thudded down. First he hit the staircase below with an echoey, rusty-sounding thud, then rolled down the set of stairs at a concerning speed. Once he reached the platform at the bottom, he hit his head against the black safety fence, and came to a painful stop.

Holy fuck, Jack’s head was pounding. Not to mention his everything ached a fierce white pain that he couldn’t even begin to describe. He felt giddy—extremely giddy.

“JACK!” Davey loudly gasped from a floor up. Jack could tell it was a yell, but everything sounded like he was five feet underwater.

It became a struggle to keep his eyes open, but he was able to watch as Davey, in one fluid motion, shot out of the window like a bullet and raced down the fire escape. It made Jack wonder if he had practiced it before. He didn’t have time to ponder before Davey slid up beside him, holding him up with one hand on his back and the other behind his head.

“Jack? Are you alright?!” Davey spoke worriedly, and something in Jack’s heart ached a different kind of pain. “I- I- Nevermind. You’ll be okay. You’ll be okay, Jack. We’ll just—”

Jack could tell he was about to pass out, and squeezed his jaw so hard his teeth hurt. With a slow, shaking hand, he tapped Davey on the shoulder and spoke in a murmur, “Davey?”

He didn’t speak, but looked at Jack with a fearful expression.

Jack felt delirious. He coughed once, twice, and let out a sigh. “I guess… I guess you could… I guess you could say that I,” He paused and took in a deep breath, “That I fell for you.”

Then, Jack passed out.

~~~

The first thing that Jack registered when he came back to was the mix of two frantic voices.

He swallowed thickly and opened his eyes, cringing at a high pitched ringing in his ears. His hands curled into fists, and that’s when he noticed that he was laying down on a bed. The sheets spread between within his fist and between his fingers.

As the ringing in his ears steadily ceased, the voices were easier to pick apart, and he was able to pin them as Davey and Les. Davey was talking more than Les was, as well as more panicked. The words weren’t occuring to him just yet, but he could use the two functioning brain cells he had awake to tell they were talking about him. So he figured he should let them know he wasn’t dead, and let out a groan and threw a hand up in the air. In a second he could feel two sets of eyes on him.

“Jack?” He could make out a timid Les calling out to him.

It took all the strength he could muster, but he haphazardly sat up, using his arms as support beams to keep from slumping back into the mattress, “Yea, yuh... I’m.. good…”

Davey didn’t hesitate to rush over to Jack’s side and support him up by putting a hand in the middle of his back, “No, you’re not. Not after a fall like that. Here, drink up.” He used his other hand to bring a glass of water to Jack’s lips. After a split second of resistance, Jack gave in and wearily sipped from the cup. As soon as the glass was set back down and Davey’s hand left his back, Jack collapsed onto the mattress.

He let out a pained groan, his joints still aching something fierce, “How long… was I out?”

“Just over an hour,” Davey breathed, relief seeping through his words, “I was getting worried you wouldn’t wake up and I’d have to take you to the hospital.”

Les nodded, “Yeah, he was getting really worried about you, saying he wouldn’t know what to do if you didn’t wake up. He also staye—”

“ _Les_ ,” Davey spoke firmly, grabbing his brother’s shoulders. He cleared his throat and changed his tone, “Come on, we don’t want to overwhelm him right when he wakes up, right?” It was meant to be a rhetorical question, but the way he spoke made it sound like he was speaking a fact.

“But I was just saying how you—”

“ _Right?_ "

The young boy pouted slightly, but nodded once in understanding, “Okay.”

Jack watched the brothers from his position by moving only his eyes. He let out a single giggle, and immediately his head started throbbing. A somewhat garbled but pained hiss enacted from his throat in response, and the two’s attention were quickly back on him. Just as quick to return was Davey’s panicked expression.

“Oh, does your head hurt? Les, go grab a washcloth and dip it in cold water then bring it back. It’ll help your headache.” Davey instructed. Les nodded before speed walking away.

The room encased them in a silence, and Jack could tell with his half asleep mind that it was awkward. He propped himself up on the back of his arms.

“So, you were pretty worried about me, huh?” Jack’s words were slurred but comprehendable, and a sloppy smirk pulled at his mouth. He couldn’t tell if there was a trick of the light, his mind was still that out of it, or if Davey’s cheeks actually flushed red. Squinting his eyes to see it better didn’t help much either, as he turned his head away.

“Don’t think anything of it! Of course I was worried, if I wasn’t, that would be rude.”

“Oh, but I wasn’t thinking anything of it. Why, were you?”

Davey refused to look at Jack, and kept his eyes glued to the door that Les had exited just ten seconds prior. Jack tried calling his name a few times, but it didn’t work. “Oh come on, Davey, don’t be angry with me now.” Jack pushed himself up and sat with his legs crossed. “You know that—”

“ _You_ should know that you had me worried sick! You could’ve died, Jack, and here you are joking!” Davey interrupted him. He turned only his head to give Jack a hard glare, and it would be a lie to say he wasn’t impressed with his sudden boldness. “Right before and immediately after you passed out, you’re cracking jokes!”

Those words triggered Jack’s memory, and in a flash he remembered uttering to Davey right before seeing black. He remembered the words, too; I guess you could say that I fell for you. Jack felt much more awake all of a sudden. However, he didn’t want to appear any more vulnerable, so he did what he almost always did; cover up his emotions with snark.

“Woah now, whoever said that I was joking?”

He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.

“Y-you—” Davey stammered, and slowly turned to look at him, “What?”

Jack found his confidence faltering, like it usually did around Davey lately. He hated it. He took in a breath before he spoke, “Well, I mean… uh, what if I actually did?” His eyes flickered up to meet Davey’s, and he coughed awkwardly. “Fall for you, that is.”

Davey gazed with wide eyes for a moment, not wanting to believe—no, not daring to believe. His shoulders tensed and he shook his head, “No, no, you just woke up from a ten foot fall down a damn fire escape. You’re delirious, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

Jack found that claim offensive. If there’s one thing he hated, it was people telling him he didn’t know something. So with a daring expression, he leaned forward until his body was screaming at him to stop the pain. It left about a foot between their faces, both of which were now blushed a pale red.

“Listen, I know what I’m saying. And I’m saying that what I said is true. I like you, god damnit.” Jack’s voice got lower and more incomprehensible as he spoke, like he didn’t want to be heard—but Davey heard it loud and clear, as indicated by his deer in the headlights expression.

If you had asked Jack two hours before what he thought he would be doing by now, his answer would not be anything like this. Many emotions rushed through his head like a hurricane, most notably anticipation and fear. He looked forward to what Davey would say, but he was also terrified thinking about what he could say. _I don’t like you, why would I like someone like you?_ More negative thoughts began to swirl, _Do you honestly think that I would like you? I don’t even want to be your friend anymore. You’re pathetic._  
The thoughts made Jack want to hide. He wanted to run, hop a train and go anywhere but there. Santa Fe, California, Canada; just not there. Not in Davey’s apartment after just confessing his feelings, where he was one hundred percent going to say—

“I… like you too.”

_Huh?_

“What?”

“I said that I like you too.”

Now it was Jack’s turn to have the deer in the headlights expression. It was hard to hear those words, hard to believe that someone actually loved him. Their eyes met, and for a moment, all of Jack’s pain went away. All he could feel was butterflies, and all he could hear was the beating of his own heart. He wanted to ask him if he was sure, and then if he was really really sure.

But before he could:

“Sorry I took so long Davey, I had to—” The voice of Les entered the room, startling both of the boys. “...Did I miss something?”

Davey recovered quicker than Jack. He coughed and shook his head as he took the washcloth, “You didn’t, next time you should be quicker.”

For a brief moment, Jack’s heart sank at how quickly the previous moment was discarded. Though as Davey pushed him down into a lying position and rested the washcloth on his forehead, all with a gentle smile, he knew that the words spoken were real.

They could discuss it in the morning. For now, Jack needed rest. Falling down a fire escape while subconsciously flirting with your crush hurt. A lot.


End file.
